


Home, and Other Places Nearby

by Dutch



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Blowjobs, Dystopian society, M/M, Post Apocalyptic AU, Sibling Incest, Soft Apocalypse, Stridercest secret Santa 2019, dystopian au, handjobs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:08:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22250833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dutch/pseuds/Dutch
Summary: Nothing is ever as bad as it seems. Not even the apocalypse. Especially not if you have someone to share it with.Or Dave Strider falls in love with the only other person around after the apocalypse, his twin brother.
Relationships: Dirk Strider/Dave Strider
Comments: 5
Kudos: 71
Collections: Stridercest Secret Santa





	Home, and Other Places Nearby

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nuclearwinter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nuclearwinter/gifts).



There were better places to live, Dave supposed. Someplace with more people, better access to resources. Some kind of meat that wasn’t fish. But Dave also supposed he liked the island. It had what was left of their apartment on it, which was always home, couldn’t be anything but, even if the rest of the world surrounding it wasn’t anything like Dave remembered.

It had been about ten years since the planet died. That was what the scientists called it anyway, even though it wasn’t true. The planet got hot, things flooded, people fought, society fell apart. Over half of the population was gone, likely, but the television quit working about six months in so there was actually no way of knowing. Things bloomed after that. The earth was very much alive. Nature took back what it wanted and the absence of pollution meant more fresh air and vines and brush and plants took over everything.

Fish were plentiful, vegetables thrived. Cans leftover in apartments and corner stores were still good. Lots to eat and as much space as he wanted. It was a good life, overall, things compared. And Dave wasn’t alone here either, his twin brother Dirk shared the island with him.

Today was a repair day, which meant working on the solar panels that Dirk had cobbled together on the roof of their apartment building. He was some kind of genius, Dave had known that their entire life, but forced into a survival situation it shone through. The panels broke a lot, but that was no fault of Dirk’s, he’d done phenomenally with scavenged materials. He was the reason they had hot water, were probably the only ones on earth with hot water.

The panels sat at all different heights over the expanse of the roof, the frames a technicolor mix of whatever scrap metal had been available and the right size. The panels themselves were a range of black and grey sheets, almost all of them were cracked. Dirk had used a multitude of extension cords all spliced together to run into a large battery pack that had once been their air conditioning unit. It was the cords that frayed, and Dirk with the precision of a surgeon put them back together while Dave followed him around with the electrical tape.

He’d gotten many a sunburn up on that roof, and now that they were out of sunscreen for good it seemed that they’d both always be a little pink on the ears. Smelling the sea salt and listening to the seagull's caw, shoes scuffing on the roof tar as Dave tried to make sure their fingers didn’t touch when Dirk took the tape. There were other reasons Dave got pink around the ears, after all.

* * *

When Dave opened his eyes, he wasn’t where he remembered. He’d been in the apartment when he’d fallen asleep, the moonlight streaming in the window between his bed and Dirk’s. Instead, now, he was back in the city. He could hear outside people moving in the streets and what livestock could be crammed into the surroundings bray and bleat. This apartment was different from the one he and Dirk had grown up in, their mother had moved them both and their two sisters in here when the social infrastructure fell out. Settlements like this one sprung up to keep people fed and violence to a minimum. The cities were safe and protected and preserved the way life was before.

There was a creeping fear, however, that something was wrong. That he shouldn’t be here. Regardless, he got out of bed anyway.

Everyone seemed to be in the living room. Mom was going over paperwork from her assigned job as a teacher for the city. Rose and Roxy, who were both a few years younger and not assigned yet, were working on a knitting project, trading or selling their projects kept their family a bit more well off than some others. Dirk was nowhere to be seen at first, but Dave found him in the kitchen looking out a window.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Dave asked with his voice low, approaching him quickly.

“Nothing, what’s going on with you?” His brother replied, calm as could be and Dave could see the micro expression of surprise on his face.

“That’s not what I meant,” Dave huffed. “What are we doing here? How did we-“

“Boys?” Their mother’s voice cut him off. “You’re going to be late.”

Dave’s heart sank. This is it. This is why Dave thought he shouldn't have been there. He knew exactly what morning this was.

“Dave just got up, Mom,” Dirk replied.

“What?” She asked, and then stood up. She loved to fuss over him, loved nothing more than to baby her baby, so when she got to him he knew there was no resisting.

“Oh, honestly. You’ve got to leave in a few minutes and look at your hair,” she dotted, licking her palm and using it to smooth down a cowlick on top of his head. She brushed her palms down his shirt sleeves, frowning when the wrinkles didn’t come out, but it wasn’t like they had any way to iron it in the first place. “You look good enough, I guess. You both should get going.”

“No, I don’t want to, I know what’s going to-“ Dave started to argue, but Dirk spoke over him as if he hadn’t said anything at all. Like neither of them could hear his protests.

“I guess we should. See you later.”

“Bye. I’m sure you’ll both get something good,” their mother smiled warmly at them, and it made Dave’s chest tighten so much he thought he couldn’t breathe. Before he knew it they were out on the street, Dirk leading the way. There were tons of other young men their age, their neighbors and strangers, so many it was noticeable in the crowd, headed down the sidewalk and headed to the city center.

It was Appointment Day, and Dave found himself absolutely powerless to stop the progression of what he knew to be the worst day of his life. Playing out like a movie.

Republic City’s inner circle was made up of what used to be a library and all of the new construction buildings that were erected around it in what was once a downtown area. The streets were clean here, laid brick and cobblestone replaced what was once cracked and potholed asphalt and the grass was kept trimmed. The electric in the lamp posts had been ripped out and replaced with an oil-burning system, and every one of them worked keeping the neighborhoods here well lit. Livestock was not allowed within the circle, proclaimed several signs as they drew nearer, save for the high stepping carriage horses owned only by people who could afford that sort of thing. People from these neighborhoods usually worked in government, working in what was probably the world's last remaining suits and ties that never seemed to have holes and their shoes never came apart at the seams like Dave’s tennis shoes.

It was absurd a thing like classism existed in a place and time like this, but Rose claimed that history was doomed to repeat itself no matter what. Already, Dave could see the lines forming. The library building was now a multi-use building, but besides being a control center for the city and the offices for people in charge, it was also where they ran Appointment Days from.

The front lawn of the library was buzzing with excitement. This was a rite of passage in their community, young men were glad to help support their families and neighbors.

Dave remembered as he looked up at the billboard with the job names written in white chalk that he had once thought that the odds of him or Dirk getting something dangerous was very slim. The board claimed there was only a minimal need for dangerous jobs, jobs like mining positions, construction, or working on the city incinerator. It had a little less than a sign that denoted they needed fewer than ten high-risk positions filled. It claimed most positions available now were easy, more than one hundred, like city patrol or trash collection, jobs they could complete and go home. There were also plenty of fun jobs they could have gotten, even adventurous jobs like scout or scavenger where they could leave the city walls and see the new world.

But Dave also knew that he was going to reach his hand into the jar and pull out a very slim chance. Before Dave opened it, he knew that it would say, miner. He knew he was destined to get on a transport truck and head about a hundred miles out to live on a secondary settlement so the main one could have coal to keep themselves warm. He knew he’d only be able to return on winter holidays, spend twelve hours a day six days a week in complete darkness with blistered hands and dirty hair with the constant threat of collapse until his body ruined and he returned home crippled before thirty-five. There was a reason this job needed new boys every Appointment Day.

He wouldn't see his family again until next year, now. He and Dirk had never been separated in their lives.

When he opened it, Dirk knew all of that too.

“What?” His twin gaped. “No, that can’t be right.”

“Dirk-“ Dave choked.

“That’s not right. You can’t have pulled that, of all things. They had to of rigged it,” Dirk’s voice rose, people were beginning to look.

“Dave, that’s a mistake!”

“Is there a problem, over here?”

Dave didn’t want to look because he knew who was standing there. The one who ran the Appointment department was a tall, pale man that had to be around their mother’s age. His face was wrinkled with frown lines so deep it gave him the appearance similar to a bulldog, looming over them in his expensive suit with a snarl that should have shown sharp teeth instead of blunt ones.

“Yes, we have a problem,” Dirk argued, turning to him. “My brother drew the wrong assignment.”

“That’s not possible,” the man argued back. “It’s a random chance. He had the same chance of pulling it as you did. There are no mistakes here. What he drew cannot be changed or taken back.”

“You can’t take him away from his family,” Dirk had very angrily declared.

“Young man, this is the way it’s done. Our city is one of a very few left, even fewer that exist that can care for all of its people and allow for population growth. I’ll not have you or anyone else questioning how this works. To question your assignment is to question our very livelihood.” The man scowled, his hands gripping into fists. Dave could see how tense he was.

The first time this happened, Dave had tried to argue, talk Dirk down but Dirk had only talked over him. Dave tried to do the same, but this time found no sound came out of his mouth.

“You know, he’s right,” another boy piped up to their left. “My dad said it’s rigged too, why don’t we get to pick our jobs?”

“Yeah! Why not?”

“Silence!” The man commanded, but the group did not silence. It was no secret that assignments were often hotly contested. Of course for reasons exactly like Dave’s, but people often grew unhappy in jobs they didn’t like. Dave’s own mother never saw herself fit for a teaching position. Assignments were a hotly contested topic but only as a whisper. Dave had never seen people talk about it openly, or loudly. And people kept getting louder.

Dave could see the fear in the eyes of the officials. As the crowd got louder still, people started to shove, all eyes were inward on this little circle that was forming, concentrating intensity, and then the first paper was thrown. It was like snow, white slips with black writing raining down as they were thrown to the center where they collected on the ground. Dave looked to his brother who didn’t seem to know what to think, Dirk’s mouth was slightly agape, his eyes darting to watch paper as it fell to his feet.

Just as quickly as it started, it was over. Armed police officers came from seemingly nowhere, from all directions, breaking up the group and throwing anyone that dared turn on them to the ground. The shouting from the mass became the commands of the officers. Get on the ground. Stay down. Hands where they could see them.

Dirk went down first, tackled by an officer, and before Dave could help, he was being jerked to the side and the handle of a pistol hit him in the face.

Dave’s hands went to his face as he stumbled back and came back covered in blood. His nose burned and he could feel it drip, start to see it drip on his pants. He didn’t care about himself though, he wanted to know if Dirk was alright. His brother was face down in the dirt, struggling against a cop who was screaming at him but Dave’s ears were rushing and he couldn’t hear anything.

Hands were on him, he was being hauled to his feet. Dirk was too, and it took him a moment to realize that the roar that had been the crowd that became the roar in his ears was now an almost deafening silence.

“Young man, do you know who you have done? Do you know who I am?” The man from the assignment’s office voice boomed. He was red in his pale face and Dave had never seen someone look so angry. “We keep our society running with this very event you seek to make a mockery of!”

“You keep this society running without choices!” Dirk shouted, only to be slapped. Dave watched his head jerk with the force.

“That’s right. We do,” he replied sternly. “And it works well for those who feel this is their home. If you both disagree then, well, I don’t suppose there’s anything for you here.”

His voice raised. “I hereby order your expulsion from Republic City.”

Dave shot up in bed with a gasp. Sweat was pouring off of him, he’d been lying there with that terrible nightmare for so long his sheets were wet. Dave’s heart raced, it felt like his chest was too small, like it was going to beat right out of his skin, and he felt like he couldn’t catch his mind as it raced through a soup that anxiety had made out of his thoughts.

Dave couldn’t stop the onslaught of snapshots at the end of that particular memory. How the crowd had dispersed and they’d been drug kicking and screaming to the front gate. The gate hadn’t been open in some time and Dave could still hear loud metal on metal screech of its hinges. He’d cried for his mother, but it happened too fast for anyone to fetch her. He never saw her or his sisters again. They’d ended up going back to the only other place they’d ever known, home.

“Dave?” Dirk’s voice came from the bed across the room. God, he was here. He was safe and not bleeding or hurt, and his voice wasn’t scratchy from crying. Dave couldn’t answer him, too busy trying to slow his panic. No lights came on, but Dirk rose slowly and crossed the short space between them to sit down on the edge of the bed.

“You okay?” He asked Dave shook his head.

“Bad dream.”

“Oh,” Dirk murmured. “It wasn’t real.”

Dave wanted to say no, actually, it had been. It had been a pivotal moment in their lives. Instead, he settled for nodding.

“Lay back down,” Dirk urged. He pressed on Dave’s shoulder, pressing him over and down.

There was room for Dirk by the time he was back down, still a little damp but his blood pressure was quickly dropping. Dave didn’t want to face him, so he rolled to his side.He nearly jumped when Dirk did too, nearly spooning him, to run a hand down his side soothingly.

“You’re safe,” he reminded. “I got you.”

Dave could feel his face turning red, and he felt so embarrassed. Not because he needed his brother's comfort but because it was working so fast. He curled tighter in on himself only to feel his brother do the same.

* * *

A few mornings later, after the memory of things past had been forgotten, it stormed. Nothing would blow away, but the solar panels might need another repair, and with an overcast sky power was short anyway so they needed to conserve. The weather kept them housebound, so they sat together under the blue-grey sky and listened to the rain on the window.

It was around noon, Dave figured, when he stretched awake from his catnap on the couch. He could smell food cooking and sound from their electric frypan, Dirk must have been making lunch. They ate a lot of spam, so no doubt that was what was frying, and by the smell of it some onions from their little garden. Dave stood up, stretching again, and wandered that way. Dirk was indeed cooking, and when he saw Dave, he grinned.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” Dave returned. “Smells good. Like really fucking good.”

Dirk grabbed a plate from his side, used his spatula to scoop a healthy serving on to it, and handed it to Dave before getting his own. “I got something for you.”

“More than food?” Dave asked, going rummaging for forks, snagging one for Dirk too.

“Mhm,” Dirk nodded, and then from hidden under a dishtowel, he pulled a pack of soda.

Dave’s eyes went wide. Soda? He could have sworn they drank the last of the soda in this area years ago! The six-pack was missing two and a third one was crushed, the aluminum on all of them was scratched and weathered, the paint faded until it was almost unrecognizable what brand it was.

“Where’d you get that?”

“I found it. Washed up on the beach,” Dirk told him, pulling one out to hand it to him. “It’s expired. Tastes good I’m sure.”

Dave put his food down and cracked the can, taking a long, long sip and savored the sweet taste. The carbonation was all gone, but Dave didn’t care. He knew he was smiling when he pulled the can away. “It does taste good. Holy shit man! I can't believe you found soda of all things. The liquid sugar Gods were good to us.”

Dirk didn’t say anything, but his teeth flashed as his smile widened.

He had such a perfect smile, Dave thought. His mouth might have been a mirror, but his smile didn’t hold a candle to his brother’s. He even looked good as he rose a forkful of canned meat to his mouth and chewed. They ate in comfortable silence, forks clinking on plates until they were both finished. The plates went into the sink to be washed later and the two retired to the living room. Dirk draped himself over one end of their sofa, and Dave took the other side, grabbing the blanket he’d had for his nap to drape over his legs, and then after a second of fussing, covered Dirk’s as well.

“Thanks,” his twin said, smoothing out the wrinkles in the plush fabric.

“Welcome,” Dave murmured, his eyes downcast to cover that he was blushing again.

“Dave?”

“Wha- mph!” He exclaimed, best he could with his brother’s lips on his. Dave’s eyes were wide, pupils blown in shock. He made no move to pull away, but Dirk did instead.

“Fuck, I’m sorry. I shouldn't have done that,” he sputtered. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t even ask if you wanted- wanted that or me or- or-“

“Dirk!” Dave interrupted, and before Dirk could babble something else out that branched into self-deprecating territory, he kissed him. Neither of them could spew bullshit with their mouths covered, and that was honestly for the best.

Dave’s face was burning but his eyes were closed and so were Dirk’s and it didn’t matter anymore. His wonderful, amazing, handsome, terrible brother was kissing him and it was all he ever wanted in the world.

“I didn’t know,” Dave panted when he pulled away, “that you…”

“You either,” Dirk replied and there was that smile again and Dave could feel his fingers curling around his wrist, and then they were kissing again. Dirk’s lips were on his firm and warm and it made Dave’s head swim. Things felt thick like honey, his hands felt clumsy as they meet Dirk’s shoulders, and Dirk’s hands drifted to his hips, and then slid lower. Maybe on accident, maybe on purpose.

Everything fell away from them. The rain and the end of the world, the dusty apartment on an island, a future that was up in the air. None of it mattered, the only concern was that moment.

Dirk’s hand was on his outer thigh hot and close and Dave could feel himself getting heated. The front of his pants was getting tighter the more tongues were involved, and Dave was just a teeny bit horrified. He both wanted to tear away and hide and go after him more, pursue a further closeness, a closeness that didn’t have clothes or complications between it.

The hands-on his sides drifted back up, fingers working through the cotton of his shirt, just under his ribcage and then back down, to his hips, to pull him closer by the belt loops on his faded jeans. Dave balked, knowing exactly what Dirk was going to feel, but Dave was still forced to move closer, first on to his knees and then on to his lap, never breaking their kiss.

He landed on Dirk’s lap and suddenly he was aware of exactly how Dirk felt about him. How he wanted him the same way. Dirk still had him by the belt loops and as he jerked him down and rolled his hips up, Dave got the message loud and clear.

When they parted from the kiss, their foreheads rested on each other, hot breath warming the space between them as they panted. Dave didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing. They just were for a moment. Neither of them had any idea what they were doing, fumbling around like they were still teenagers.

But they weren’t, they had no teenage hormones to blame this on, no curiosity that needed to be sated, they both knew how this worked. It was the partner that he perceived new but not really, Dave reminded himself, everything still worked the same way. And he’d known Dirk his whole life. With no foreseeable consequences, why shouldn't he get to indulge?

His back meet the couch as Dirk shoved him, not particularly hard but hard enough got the picture. Their legs were still tangled and that made moving a struggle, but now Dirk was on top and one of his big hands was pushing Dave’s shirt up as he leaned in to steal another kiss. Not that Dave minded.

He could feel Dirk’s hand between them struggling as their lips parted, and then the pressure in the front of his pants was gone and replaced by the hot, heady feeling of his brother’s cock lined up with his. Dirk’s hand wrapped around them both, and that was so like him, had to be in control, and-

All of Dave’s thoughts fell away when Dirk rolled his hips. There was no lube but the friction and the heat was mind-blowing. It made his mouth fall open and his pupils blown wide all over again, a choked sound escaping his throat as Dirk grunted above him.

More, please, yes please, god he wanted it so bad. He didn’t have to voice his needs, because Dirk already had him covered. He made a mirror movement, and the feeling made Dave’s stomach flip like driving over a particularly tall hill did. Fuck, what was he supposed to do with his hands? As soon as Dirk made a third move, he’d forgotten all about it in favor of jerking his hips along too. Dave’s eyes squeezed shut, only to fly back open as he felt molten hot precum drip from Dirk’s cock on to his. If his skin could be any more flushed, it would have turned tomato colored right then.

The friction was good, it was so good. Dave could hardly focus on the rhythm that built, his return motions making it sloppy and off timing, but if either of them noticed or cared, they didn’t say anything. He could feel Dirk squeeze, adding to it, keying him up, but not as much as it had Dirk.

Dave looked down just in time to watch Dirk cum, splattering milky white all over his belly, so hot it almost burned. Dave’s hips were skinny from years and years of slim pickings, but his breath heaving was enough to start drips from the puddle down his sides. Oh god, that shouldn't look so good.

“Sorry,” Dirk murmured, barely above a whisper.

“Don’t be,” Dave returned and captured his lips once again. Dirk was the one to break it. Dave was about to ask why when Dirk sat up a little straighter and moved down the couch. Dave’s brows furrowed, and then he got it.

Dirk leaned down, and with a flat tongue licked a wide stripe up his belly, cleaning up his mess and setting Dave’s skin alive with fire. The anticipation was killing him, even if it only lasted a few minutes, he felt like he’d been on edge for hours. Like he was perched on the edge of a warm pool, his feet in and his hips easing in. His tummy dipped with the second lick, the third made him squirm but in a good way. The fourth Dirk licked across his cockhead and Dave shouted.

He could see Dirk’s shit-eating grin as he made another broad lick over his skin, finishing his clean up job and putting Dave back on edge for just that much longer. Dave knew what to do with his hands now, one rested on Dirk’s shoulder, giving him a gentle shove, and the other fisted in his hair, directing him back to his dick which his brother was willingly lead.

Dirk brought one of his own hands up to steady, and then his mouth popped over his tip and sunk down. His mouth was so soft, pulling up and sinking down again, over and over until he’d taken Dave to the base.

“ ‘m not gonna last,” Dave warned.

Dirk didn’t stop, if anything he doubled down. Dave’s grip tightened in his hair, his breath came out in hot puffs, his toes curling.

He was cumming sooner than he liked, but he couldn’t hold back anymore. The combined sensations and the knowledge he’d gotten the only person he’d ever wanted to do this with between his legs finally. Dirk backed off until just the tip was behind his lips and swallowed everything Dave gave him.

When he pulled off and looked up at Dave his eyes glowed like amber embers and Dave could feel his breath on his softening dick. Dave didn’t know what to say, so he starred. Dirk started right back. No pushing or screaming or denial of wanting it too, no strategically placed ‘no homo’.

Dirk was the first to move, licking his lips and sitting up. He had to clear his throat before he spoke and his voice was thick. “You good?”

“I’m good. I'm good, im cool like, twelve kinds of cool, i'm cooler than the big iceberg on club penguin, trying to tip that fucker was like, the- wait, fuck.” Dave stopped himself. “Are you? Good, I mean.”

“Yeah. I’m good.”

It was cold without the sun, and the sound of the rain had returned now it was mostly quiet in the room. Dave looked out the window, feeling a little awkward at the moment. What should he say? Should he… compliment his dick sucking success? Try and laugh it off? Try and broach a conversation? In the end, he didn’t say anything. He motioned to Dirk with one hand, a ‘come here’ sort of thing, and patted his chest.

With a grin, his brother complied, fixing the shirt he’d rucked up to make a smoother pillow for himself, and lay down. He was on his side, head on Dave’s chest, one leg thrown between his spread ones.

The silence got a little less intimidating with his brother using him like a teddy bear. He was warm again with their shared body heat. When he looked down again, Dirk’s eyes were closed, long sandy lashes fanned out over his cheeks and Dave knew he was asleep. And the way he saw it, there was only one thing left for him to do.

Dave shut his eyes, and let himself drift.


End file.
